Glitch in computer ratings changes BCS standings

The final Bowl Championship Series standings had to be corrected after a mistake was found that changed the rankings of Boise State and LSU, but did not affect any bowl matchups.

Jerry Palm, who runs the websites www.collegebcs.com and wwww.collegerpi.com, found a discrepancy in the Colley Matrix computer ratings, one of six used by the Bowl Championship Series to determine which teams play for the national championship and in some of the other marquee bowl games.

Wesley Colley says Palm, who verifies the Colley Matrix ratings, noticed the results of an FCS playoff game involving Appalachian State and Western Illinois had not been included in the data based used to generate the ratings.

In the revised standings, Boise State moves from 11th to 10th and LSU drops from 10th to 11th.

BCS executive director Bill Hancock said in a statement that he was “deeply disturbed” when he learned of the mistake.

“This error should not have happened and is unacceptable. The final standings have been corrected. Fortunately, it had no effect on any team’s eligibility for the BCS games. But the simple fact that it could have means this issue will be near the top of the agenda for the conference commissioners’ annual review next spring,” Hancock said.

Colley also said that his rankings for Nebraska and Alabama were affected by the missing score, but BCS ratings for those teams were unchanged.